Beth Gaston Moon
Chicago, IL - http://

With over a decade of experience as an editor and market analyst, Beth Gaston Moon writes about stocks and pop culture from her home in Chicago, IL.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), one of the equities consistently seeing the heaviest daily option volume, saw some heavy options activity right out of the gate Monday morning.

The January 2012 37.50-strike call is easily the site of heaviest call volume so far, with 39,660 contracts trading on open interest of just 521. Eleven minutes after the opening bell sounded, a block of 38,563 contracts crossed the tape, trading one penny off the ask price at $1.55 per contract.

Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM), the tech company most well-known for building the BlackBerry, is set to report quarterly earnings tomorrow after the close. Analysts expect RIMM to bank $1.00 per share in the period, 13 cents better than year-ago results.

In the past two reporting periods, RIMM has managed to surprise to the upside.

During the past few weeks as earnings approach, RIMM has seen action among call buyers, who are effectively driving up implied volatility. In the past month, at-the-money implied (or expected) readings have jumped from 41% to about 59%. The implied levels are looking fairly pricey here, especially when compared to historical readings.

Kroger (NYSE: KR) reported second-quarter earnings Tuesday and the results were disappointing to the Street and to options investors who may have bet the other way.

First, the bottom line up front. The grocery retailer earned 39 cents per share, down from 42 cents in the year-ago period and a nickel short of what analysts were expecting. Sales, meanwhile, dipped to $17.7 billion from $18.1 billion, also falling shy of Wall Street's consensus view.

There is no significant news on Fred's Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED) today, other than impending second-quarter earnings on Thursday before the open (analysts are expecting per-share earnings of 13 cents). The discount retailer has seen, however, 10,000 calls change hands on the November 15 strike, which is out of the money by $1.79. These positions were evidently sold to open, with the seller collecting a premium of 45 cents each.

So what's going on? Not much, other than a case of deja vu. It appears as though this same investor sold August 15 calls back in March. Now that the August series has expired, this trader is looking ahead to the November series. He will retain the full premium if FRED is trading below $15 at expiration. Breakeven for this trade is $15.45.

Beth works for The Options News Network (www.ONN.tv), which provides daily stock and options commentary. The above comments are not intended as trading advice.

Even with the cash-for-clunkers program in full effect, demand for new automobiles is the lowest it's been in years. This has heightened competition among automakers, who are being forced to both improve their products and discount their prices. Consumers in the market for a new 2010 vehicle may be treated to a discount.

Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM), for example, plans to introduce a less expensive Prius, and the 2010 Nissan (OTC: NSANY) Sentra will see its sticker price drop by anywhere from $130 to $1,080, based on the features the buyer opts for. Other vehicles that will hit the showroom floors at a discount include the Mercedes-Benz E350 mid sized sedan and the Lexus RX 350, discounted by $3,300 and $700, respectively.

The indefatigable Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) has made another strategic business decision ... it has decided to raise the price for some beverages and reduce the cost for others.

What is the line of demarcation? Complexity. Drinks that take more of a barista's time to make (such as Frappuccinos) will now be priced 10 to 30 cents higher, while simple drip coffee and lattes will be priced 5 to 15 cents lower.

Earnings season is winding down, but there is still some excitement left for earnings-confessional spectators. Up tomorrow ahead of the opening bell is Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE), manufacturer of agricultural machinery.

Analysts are expecting per-share results of 57 cents, which represents a drop of 57% from the $1.32 banked in the year-earlier period. Year-over-year quarterly revenue growth, however, has not endured quite as dramatic a fall, slipping 16.7%.

Nielsen ratings have always been an imperfect system of projecting who is watching what when. The advent of DVR technology and internet-streamed programming have made the television ratings game even more challenging.

So the major TV companies -- General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal, Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), Viacom (NYSE: VIA), CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS), and Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) -- have teamed together to fight against Nielsen, which not only delivers arguably flawed data, but charges a hefty fee to do so.

We've all heard of Amazon.com's (NASDAQ: AMZN) Kindle -- perhaps you've even seen it in the flesh. It's portable, well-lit, and comes equipped with wireless technology so a user can download a new novel on the fly.

The competing device, Sony Corp.'s (NYSE: SNE) e-reader ... well, it's portable and well-lit. But if you run out of reading material and you're away from home, too bad. Until now.

Rumors continue to swirl that Sony is not far off from unveiling a wireless version of its Reader. The company's e-reader group has extended an invitation to reporters for a meeting on August 25. Could a wireless announcement be in the offing?